Disabled People (Hansard, 7 March 1995)

§ Mr. Thurnham
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many disabled people were employed in(a) Remploy, (b) local authority workshops, (c) voluntary run workshops, (d) local authority sheltered placements and (e) voluntary organisation sheltered placements in each of the last five years.

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M.E.G. Fogden to Mr. Peter Thurnham, dated 7 March 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of disabled people who were employed on the Supported (formerly Sheltered) Employment scheme during the last five years. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.The information you requested is shown in the table below. This shows the number employed at 31 March each year in each type of provision. The Remploy numbers shown relate to a yearly average.I hope this is helpful.143W

§ Mr. Alan Howarth
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from employers and business organisations calling for firms employing fewer than 20 people to be exempted from a legislative requirement not to discriminate against disabled people; and if he will place such representations in the Library.

§ Miss Widdecombe
Seventy-two employers or employer associations responded to the Government consultative document "A Consultation on Government Measures to Tackle Discrimination Against Disabled People" on the issue of whether small firms should be excluded from the proposed employment right for disabled people. Of those that expressed a clear preference, six employer associations and one employer were in favour of exempting small firms and three employer associations and 10 employers were against.
It is not our policy to publish particular responses to the consultation, but a copy of the analysis of responses has been placed in the Library.

§ Sir Andrew Bowden
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people who have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities would be considered as(a) unsuitable for employment, (b) less suitable for employment than other people and (c) significantly impeded from performing their employment duties.
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people, (a) by type of disability and (b) by age who have a progressive condition which will lead to them (i) registering as disabled or (ii) having a physical or mental impairment which will have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

§ Miss Widdecombe
The labour force survey provides information about people who have a disability or health problem which they expect to last over 12 months and which affects the type of work that they can do. The available information from the summer 1994 LFS is shown in the following table.
It is not possible to say how many people with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities would be considered unsuitable for employment, or less suitable for employment than other people. This would depend on the particular circumstances of the individual, and the nature of the employment in question. Nor is it possible to estimate by type of disability and age the number of people who have a progressive condition and age the number of people who have a progressive condition which would lead them to registering as disabled. Registration under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1994 is voluntary and only a minority of disabled people choose to register.
Statistics are not available on people who have a progressive condition which will lead to them having a physical or mental impairment which will have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
144W

Numbers of people of working age who have a health problem or disability which limits the king of paid work they can do, and which they expect to last more than 12 months by type of disability and age

Great Britain—Summer 1994

Thousands

All ages 16-24 year olds 24-49 year olds 50—59-64 year olds¹

All 3,696 384 1,610 1,703

Arms, legs, hands, feet, back and neck 2,196 120 930 1,146

Difficulty in seeing 155 32 69 55

Difficulty in hearing 114 14 44 56

Skin conditions, allergies 162 51 78 32

Chest and breathing problems 356 80 156 120

Heart, blood, pressure and circulation 222 –² 67 151

Stomach liver, kindey and digestion 80 –² 44 29

Diabetes 75 14 34 27

Depression and bad nerves 96 –² 59 30

Epilepsy 51 10 35 –²

Severe or specific learning difficulties 48 23 20 –²

Mental illness, phobia and panics 46 –² 28 13

Other problems or disabilities 92 16 44 31

¹ Women aged 50–59 Men aged 50–64

² Estimates below 10,000 are not shown.

Source:
Labour Force Survey

§ Sir Andrew Bowden
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people registered under section 6 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 are(a) below pension age, (b) pension age to 74, (c) 75 to 84 and (d) 85 years and older, by type of disability and sex.

§ Miss Widdecombe
The register of disabled people established by the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 is kept locally, by the Employment Services's placing assessment and counselling teams. The number of names in the register is counted annually, in April. On 18 April 1994, there were 374,182 registered disabled people: of these, 277,294 were male and 96,888 were female.
I regret that information is not collected centrally on the numbers of registered disabled people by type of disability, or by age band. There is no upper age limit for registration. Disabled people who intend to remain in the labour market after reaching pension age may continue to be registered as disabled if they meet the eligibility criteria. However, the majority of registered disabled people are likely to be below pension age.

§ Sir Andrew Bowden
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the register of disabled persons maintained under section 6 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 would be considered to he(a) unsuitable for employment, (b) less suitable for employment than other people and (c) significantly impeded from performing their employment duties.

§ Miss Widdecombe
I regret that information is not available in the form requested. The eligibility criteria for registration as disabled under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Acts include being capable of some form of employment, under either open or supported conditions. However, the register does not classify 145W registered disabled people in terms of their relative suitability for employment or the extent to which they may be impeded in performing particular employment duties.

Numbers of people of working age who have a health problem or disability which limits the king of paid work they can do, and which they expect to last more than 12 months by type of disability and age
Great Britain—Summer 1994
Thousands
	All ages	16-24 year olds	24-49 year olds	50—59-64 year olds¹
All	3,696	384	1,610	1,703
Arms, legs, hands, feet, back and neck	2,196	120	930	1,146
Difficulty in seeing	155	32	69	55
Difficulty in hearing	114	14	44	56
Skin conditions, allergies	162	51	78	32
Chest and breathing problems	356	80	156	120
Heart, blood, pressure and circulation	222	–²	67	151
Stomach liver, kindey and digestion	80	–²	44	29
Diabetes	75	14	34	27
Depression and bad nerves	96	–²	59	30
Epilepsy	51	10	35	–²
Severe or specific learning difficulties	48	23	20	–²
Mental illness, phobia and panics	46	–²	28	13
Other problems or disabilities	92	16	44	31
¹ Women aged 50–59 Men aged 50–64
² Estimates below 10,000 are not shown.